What is the pulse on the current engineering job market?

If you're an engineering job seeker, how has the job market changed in the past six months? More jobs? More interviews/offers? If
you're currently employed, has your company increased the number of job
openings in the past six months (compared to the months prior)? How about the
number and quality of applicants?

I've seen the head-hunters dusting off their old rolodex entries lately too, and while I understand their reluctance to reveal who they a re head-hunting for, the hunters seem to be getting very closed-mouthed on the positions they are looking to fill. It's one thing to keep quiet about the potential employer, so the candidate cannot do an 'end run' around the headhunter and apply directly with the company, thus denying the headhunter their commission, But when the job itself isn't up for revelation, while at the same time the hunter is trying to get all this detailed information on skills and training across the board. One has to wonder what sort of positions are out there, if any, that these headhunters are looking to fill, or if they are simply updating their files. And that begs the question of why is there such a need for the hunters to all update their files now.

Phil Jones said:

We are holding steady with our staff. No new hires for the last 3 years, one loss to retirement that was filled by the retiree doing contract work for us.

I've noticed a sharp increase in calls from head-hunters, so there seems to be work out there.How much is entry-level? I can't tell.

I currently work for a large medical device maker as a design engineer and will be having my position eliminated at the end of this year in further cost cutting. They have cut or eliminated most of the "Indians" and left the majority of the "chiefs" in place figuring they can get what they need in the way of design done outside via. contractors. They have not added any engineering level jobs in two years as I am aware of.

I have been working as a contractor for my current employer for almost eight months now, they are going through a record sales period and can't keep up with back log, They have hired a few engineers since I've been there and are looking to add more. I have also had numerouse contacts from both head hunters and HR personnel from other companies regarding my availability, so over all I would say the market has improved a great deal from 6 months ago.